In case anyone was wondering what happened with that eastern Saskatchewan fireball on the 8th, we are continuing to track down photos, videos and eye witness reports to narrow the probable impact area down to a searchable number of square kilometres. We have a pretty good idea of where to look already, but need to verify this so we don’t look silly later. I’m busy daily tracking down leads, and if you’d like to add to them, or just ask a question, I can be reached at 306-783-5634 or [email protected]. Stay tuned.
But, enough of that day time work. Early sunsets mean longer evenings for star gazing, and interesting objects line themselves up all winter to tempt you out of doors.
High in the southern sky for the next few months you will find the Andromeda Galaxy, the twin to our Milky Way spiral, but with a much cooler name. At a distance of 2.5 light years (in kilometres, that’s 2.5 and 19 zeros), it’s the furthest thing in the universe that you can see with the naked eye.
If you look up for the next few nights, the first thing you will notice is the Moon. Full on the 25th, it’s still bright enough to wash out the eastern sky. However, when it moves on by month’s end, the stars and constellations of one of the most interesting parts of the sky will stand out plainly.
The Moon passes through Taurus on the 26th, northern Orion on the 27th and then on through Gemini and Cancer. Taurus the Bull is marked by red giant Aldebaran, the Pleiades star cluster and the Crab Nebula, an exploded star witnessed and recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054.
Above Taurus, high up in the eastern sky, we find Capella, the sixth brightest star in the night sky. A relatively nearby neighbour of ours, Capella is made up of four stars in orbit around each other.
Low on the horizon in November is Orion the Hunter, crowned by Betelgeuse, a giant red star with a diameter some 700 times that of our Sun. You will also find the Great Orion Nebula, a large gas cloud that is the ongoing birthplace of countless new stars. The Orion Nebula, over a million times the diameter of the solar system, is also visible in a dark sky with your eyes alone, appearing as a shiny cloud about the size of the Moon.
We’ll turn our attention to these and other winter wonders as they get a little higher in the sky. Although it includes bundling up, winter features some of the best objects the sky has to offer.
Oh, and did I mention there’s a comet coming? Better do that next week.
